Mobile: A huge opportunity for Travel

There are exciting times ahead for travel businesses that invest in mobile payments.

Nowadays, mobile is engrained in the traveler journey.

With their smartphone in their pocket, travelers can check into flights, browse and reserve hotel rooms and in some cases even order room service.

Big wins are to be had by travel merchants that embrace mobile

So big wins are to be had by travel merchants that capitalize on this enthusiasm for mobile and integrate a seamless payment flow into their mobile experience.

But while some industry leaders are already reaping the rewards, it is still early days for mobile payments in travel.

The Adyen Mobile Payments Index, which tracks the rapid evolution of mobile as a payment channel, has taken a deep-dive into travel to provide a snapshot of the state of mobile payments in both airlines and accommodation services.

According to the Index, the share of browser-based mobile travel payments is currently 15.5%. When compared to the global figure of 32% we see that things are just starting to take off.

But when you consider the burgeoning number of customers who use their mobile when they travel, the opportunity is huge.

Ensure your mobile experience is optimized for the customer on the move

Before jumping on the mobile bandwagon, merchants should ensure their mobile experience is optimized for the customer on the move.

Supporting payment methods that allow one-click payments, providing a simplified checkout and ensuring pages are suitable for small screen sizes can have a positive impact on your mobile conversions.

Brit Haarmans, Senior Product Manager of European airline Transavia explains: “To make the mobile experience easier for our customers, we designed a scalable website and were the first to launch Whatsapp as a service channel. Thanks to this investment, mobile now accounts for 20% of our payments.”